1. Hublot

In the manually wound Caliber HUB9005, 11 vertically arranged barrels provide a power reserve of 50 days. Hublot includes a special power tool with each watch to make sure the winding process doesn’t also last for days. The hours, minutes, and power reserve are shown on cylinders; there’s a vertical tourbillon, too.

2. Corum

The Golden Bridge movement, created by Vincent Calabrese for Corum in 1980, has long been a cult object. In 2011, the brand upgraded the Golden Bridge with an automatic winding mechanism. Naturally, given the Golden Bridge’s unorthodox structure, the movement doesn’t have a traditional winding rotor; instead the winding weight moves linearly along two rails.

3. Montblanc

The hand-wound Caliber MB M68.40 from Montblanc gives the time in two time zones. It also powers two 24-hour rings that rotate around models of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. An added bonus is the patented tourbillon with a cylindrical balance spring, spinning at 12 o’clock.

4. Vacheron Constantin

A tourbillon that runs for two weeks? Amazing! With the hand-wound Caliber 2260, Vacheron Constantin has created a real long-distance runner.

5. Patek Philippe

Every lever, edge and screw recess has been meticulously finished in Patek Philippe’s hand-wound CHR 27-525 PS, a split-seconds chronograph movement. The work increases exponentially with a movement as complicated as this.

6. Roger Dubuis

Two tourbillons in a skeletonized environment give this watch a 3-D look. According to Roger Dubuis, 1,200 hours are needed to manufacture its manual-wind Caliber RD01SQ.

7. A. Lange & Söhne

With the manual-wind Caliber L043.5, the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk, which shows the hour and minutes digitally in two windows, is upgraded to become a minute repeater. The repeater chimes the time in decimal fashion, ringing out 10-minute intervals rather than quarter hours, as most minute repeaters do.

The Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time is now available in rose gold.

Patek Philippe has reinvented an aspect of itself with the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time. When the Geneva-based company introduced the first model in white gold in 2015, it was met with great excitement. As a unique specimen that differs from the highly desirable sporty models in its Nautilus and Aquanaut collections, Patek is known primarily for its classical designs. Now a traditional brand like Patek Philippe can find inspiration from its own rich history without creating something entirely new. The Calatrava Pilot Travel Time traces its origins from a lesser-known part of the company’s history – its own pilots’ watches. The Ref. 5524R recalls the design of vintage Patek Philippe pilots’ watches from the 1930s with its bold luminescent numerals and hands.

Unlike the white-gold version with its matte blue dial and light-colored case, which gives the watch a decidedly sporty look, the 2018 rose-gold model emphasizes elegance – supported by the warm tone of the case, the sunburst finish on the dial and its gradual tonal change from brown to black, plus other details like applied rose-gold numerals with luminescent coating and a rose-gold prong buckle. In combination, these features present a unique and elegant pilots’ watch. Vintage-inspired numerals and two crown-like pushers on the left side provide added character and show that this timepiece offers an extra function – in this case, an easy-to-use second time zone.

Fine hand craftsmanship is plainly visible in the in-house Caliber 324 S C FUS.

This so-called “GMT” function is very often found in watches, usually with a dedicated 24-hour hand that is adjusted in hourly increments via the crown. If you can adjust a 12-hour hand independently, it proves to be more practical for travel. But this means pulling the crown out to the appropriate position, which isn’t always so easy. If you pull the crown out to the wrong position, you may end up changing the minute hand by mistake and losing the correct time. And, the hand for the second time zone may often only be able to be adjusted forward. If, for example, you are traveling to the next time zone to the west, you would have to move the hour hand 23 hours ahead, which would cause the date to advance, which must then also be corrected by advancing it 30 days.

Time Zone Setting
Patek Philippe has found a solution to these problems. Essentially, this involves the Travel Time’s two pushers, which allow the local time to be adjusted in two directions, and the two day/night indicators on the dial that enable both times to be read intuitively in a 12-hour format. Also, the date advances in both directions when the local time is set so that no correction is needed here either. Again, like our example above, if traveling to the next time zone to the west, pressing the upper pusher once will show both times correctly as well as the date. In contrast to a 24-hour hand for the home time, Patek Philippe uses two 12-hour hands, with the advantage of being able to “hide” the second hand when not traveling, thus making the dial tidier and even easier to read.

This isn’t the first time this movement has been used with this function – it has powered classic Calatrava models and been used in the Aquanaut and in the Nautilus in combination with a chronograph. Now for the first time, Patek Philippe has equipped the Calatrava Pilot with a system designed to prevent accidental adjustment of the time zone. The corrective pushers can be locked in position by turning them one-quarter clockwise. A one-quarter counterclockwise turn releases them for use – a cool feature that bestows the pushers with their mysterious aura. There’s a low risk of activating the pushers in an unlocked position, especially since a gold watch is not generally subjected to hard use. If the quarter-turn is too complicated, it is also entirely possible to leave the pushers in the unlocked position.

Exceptionally fine finishing is apparent in every last detail, even under close inspection with a loupe.

But pressing the pushers and the bayonet-type lock has a pleasant feel and can hardly be seen as uncomfortable or difficult. Both are easy to use and work smoothly. The pushers have a good pressure point so it is easy to tell when the hand has advanced, even without looking at the dial. Patek Philippe supplies a special stylus for adjusting the date at a recessed button. We find it better to set the date using the pusher for the local time. This may take longer but eliminates the risk of scratching the gold case with the stylus.

The crown simplifies the operation by having only one pulled position. Unfortunately, the Travel Time does not have a hack mechanism for more accurate setting of the time. Patek Philippe has added this practical function to its newer movements – it’s too bad there’s not one here since the hands that indicate the time are so easy to read. High contrast and a generous amount of luminescent coating on the hour and minutes hands and the numerical hour markers ensure optimal legibility. Both day/night indicators are clearly labeled and are easy to recognize by color: dark blue for night and white for day.

The brown sunburst dial gives the watch an unmistakably elegant look.

Movement View
There’s also plenty to see on the back, thanks to the transparent sapphire caseback. The in-house movement 324 S C FUS with self-winding mechanism sports a gold oscillating weight with circular graining. The bridges are decorated with a côtes de Genève finish and beveled and polished edges. The screw heads are carefully polished in-house by Patek Philippe. This is yet another indication of why Patek Philippe watches demand such high prices – there’s an impressive degree of handcrafting and manual finishing in each timepiece.

Here are some highlights and innovations: the Spiromax hairspring is made of Silinvar, which is derived from temperature-resistant silicon with an oxidized outer layer. This allows the hairspring to remain virtually impervious to temperatures between -10 and +60° Celsius, produced using a photolithographic process on wafer-like integrated circuitry. We were given the opportunity to test this extremely sturdy spring. Unlike a metal spring, it can be pulled far out of its original shape, but still consistently return to its original form. Impacts also have little effect. Only by pulling the spring almost completely straight with tweezers did it finally break into many pieces.

That the base movement itself is from an earlier generation can be seen from the relatively low power reserve of 35 to 45 hours. For some time now, Patek Philippe has relied on the Gyromax balance and fine regulation via poising weights, which allows the hairspring to expand and contract freely for improved results. The Patek Philippe Seal sets standards for decoration as well as strict specifications for rate accuracy. These watches must show average rate results of -3 to +2 seconds per day. Their watchmakers adjust the watches in all six positions, which is rare in the industry. On the timing machine, the Calatrava Pilot showed a superior average rate of +1.5 seconds per day. The maximum deviation between the various positions, at 8 seconds, is only average.

The silicon hairspring always returns to its original form.

But the quality of finishing of the case, dial, hands and strap is exceptional in every way. Close inspection, even when using a watchmaker’s loupe, reveals flawlessly polished surfaces on the case, a fine sunburst finish on the dial and a perfectly stitched calfskin strap that wraps around the wrist very comfortably. Although at 42 mm, the diameter of the case is large for Patek Philippe, it sits nicely on the wrist. The prong buckle matches the pilots’ watch scheme, is nice and flat when fastened, and is easy to use. Generally, we prefer a prong buckle of this type to most folding clasps, which often either press into the arm or are difficult to operate.

A less exciting feature of the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time is its price of $49,560, but this is still within the normal range for a gold Patek Philippe watch with complications. For this price, the buyer can be assured of superior finishing and excellent value. Even though the Calatrava Pilot does not achieve the same aftermarket prices as the steel Aquanaut Travel Time (which can reach almost double the new purchase price), there is no immediate 30-percent depreciation that one may see with other brands.

Our test watch convinced us in every way – with its attractive, easily recognizable and slightly sporty design, the practical and easy-to-use second time zone with ingenious lock-down pushers, plus its superb execution and finishing in every last detail. There are no notable weaknesses, and for travel, it proves itself to be simple to use and easy to read. The price is appropriate and is justified by retaining its high value. The Calatrava Pilot Travel Time can be recommended as an excellent travel watch, and not just for air travel alone.

The new clasp is a perfect match for the pilots’ watch design.

SPECS:
Manufacturer: Patek Philippe SA, Chemin du Pont-du-Centenaire 141, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland
Reference number: 5524R
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, second time zone, day/night display for home and local time, pointer date
Movement: In-house movement 324 S C FUS, automatic, 28,800 vph, 29 jewels, quick-set date via recessed push button, poising weights on Gyromax balance wheel, Spiromax hairspring (Silinvar), Incabloc shock absorber, column wheel, diameter = 31 mm, height = 4.9 mm, 35-to-45-hour power reserve
Case: Rose gold, flat sapphire crystal without anti-glare treatment, fully threaded caseback with sapphire crystal viewing window, water resistant to 60 meters
Strap and cla­­sp: Calfskin strap with rose-gold prong buckle
Rate results (Deviation in seconds per 24 hours):
Dial up +6
Dial down +2
Crown up 0
Crown down +1
Crown left +2
Crown right -2
Greatest deviation 8
Average deviation +1.5
Average amplitude:
Flat positions 276°
Hanging positions 249°
Dimensions: Diameter = 42 mm, height = 10.8 mm, weight = 152 g
Price: $49,560

SCORES:
Strap and clasp (max. 10 points): Beautifully stitched calfskin strap with high-quality pronged buckle 9
­­­Operation (5):  The crown and pushers are easy to use. A stylus is provided for the recessed date pusher. 4
Case (10):  Flawlessly polished surfaces and cleanly locking pushers 9
Design (15):  Patek Philippe is forging a new path with this sporty pilots’ watch design. 14
Legibility (5): Easy to read thanks to good contrast and generous luminescent coating. 5
Wearing comfort (10):  Case, strap and buckle all fit very comfortably on the wrist. 10
Movement (20):  Excellent decorations, fine regulator and patented silicon hairspring, but no hack mechanism. 18
Rate results (10): Adjusted in six positions, low deviation in plus range, but notable difference between the various positions. 7
Overall value (15):  Expensive, but offers a lot for the price. Excellent value retention. 13
Total: 89 POINTS

Reason #1: Expertise

Patek Philippe has mastered every aspect of fine watchmaking – from the hand-winding two-hand watch and “standard” complications with functions like an annual calendar or second time zone, to sophisticated masterpieces with minute repeaters, tourbillons, and split-seconds chronographs. Masterful artisan craftsmanship goes hand-in-hand with the use of modern, high-tech machinery.

Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph

Reason #2: Tradition

This level of expertise cannot be achieved overnight. Patek Philippe has been in existence for 177 years and has produced watches continuously during this time, resulting in an immense amount of experience that is passed on from one generation of watchmaker to the next.

The home office of Patek Philippe

Reason #3: Vision for the future

Although Patek Philippe has such a storied tradition, the manufacture is not bound to its past. On the one side, the company maintains the values of the traditional art of watchmaking while investing greatly in the use of new materials, technologies and production methods. The brand has also made a conscious choice to create new designs like the 2015 pilots’ watch, the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time (which we cover in detail here).

Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time

Reason #4: Quality

Quality is the most precious resource at Patek Philippe. The entire company is designed to support it. With the introduction of the Patek Philippe Seal in 2008 the company imposed rigid standards that often exceed normal industry standards. But the commitment to quality does not just apply to the watches themselves. Patek Philippe places the highest standards on employee training – from the watchmaker to the salesperson, including customer support that extends from sales to service.

The Patek Philippe Seal

Reason #5: Family-owned company

Patek Philippe began in 1839 and has been led for over 80 years by the Stern family, with the ownership now in its fourth generation. This provides a high degree of consistency in the company’s philosophy and policies. It also excludes the possibility of radical shifts in direction imposed by a changing management, so the path of success will most certainly continue. This ensures sustainability, which is closely aligned with the following point.

Thierry Stern and Philippe Stern

Reason #6: Value

Anyone who purchases a Patek Philippe knows that he probably won’t lose any money if he chooses to sell it at a later date. And it’s entirely possible that the value of the watch will increase over time, though there is no way to predict this in individual cases. But it’s a reassuring fact, even when most people purchase a watch simply for their own enjoyment and don’t have immediate plans to resell.

Caliber 300 created for the Grandmaster Chime

Reason #7 for the success of Patek Philippe: Perfect decoration

The quality of hand-applied decoration in the manufacturing process is high, both in technique and style. About 40 to 60 steps are needed even for inconspicuous parts like wheels. Artisan processes such as enamel painting, extremely delicate engraving, the setting of precious stones and inlays all play a significant role.

Patek Philippe Calatrava with historical ocean liner in enamel

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Ever since the first clocks were created, there has been a desire to add complications. Moon phases and calendar functions were among the first, and as pocket watches and later on, wristwatches appeared on the scene, these complications were there too implemented relatively quickly. While the impact of the moon in modern-day life dwindled for most people, knowing the day, date, and month became more and more important, in part explaining their continued popularity.

There are several ways in which a calendar function can be executed in wristwatches. The most basic, and popular, one, is simply showing just the date through either a window in the dial or with a hand. This latter is often referred to as a so-called pointer date. A complete, or full, calendar offers you additional information. There are quite a few varieties these days, but the most classic combines a day and date indicator, either as a subdial or a window, with a moon phase. These watches often have a classic appeal, with the downside that they need to be manually corrected at the end of every month that doesn’t have 31 days.

While it seems to be a small effort to do so, the technical ingenuity demanded to create a perpetual calendar, which would automatically correct itself for months with less than 31 days, as well as leap years. It was British watchmaker Thomas Mudge who first created this complication for a pocket watch in 1762. It wouldn’t appear in a wristwatch until Patek Philippe re-cased one of their perpetual pocket watch movements in a 34.4mm case with a leather strap and sold it in 1927 to the American watch collector Thomas Emery. Other brands soon followed, and these days most high-end watch brands have one or more perpetual calendars in their collection.

The mechanical complexity of the perpetual calendar made it one of the most coveted complications but also an expensive one. In 1996, it was again Patek Philippe that launched another breakthrough, the annual calendar. Part of the mechanism that makes the perpetual calendar so complex is dedicated to correcting for the leap year. With an annual calendar, you only have to manually adjust the date of the watch once a year, in February. This gives it quite an advantage over a full or complete calendar while at the same time being far less expensive than a perpetual calendar watch. While Patek Philippe patented this new complication, many brands found different solutions to the same problem, and as a result, there are now quite a few annual calendar watches to choose from.

That all three different versions are very much alive and relevant becomes clear when we look at the recent introductions. As Omega expanded its collection of annual calendars in the Constellation Globemaster, Frederique Constant was doing the same for their Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, while Vacheron Constantin launched an open-worked version of its Traditionnelle Complete Calendar. Which one would you pick?

This article is from the WatchTime Archives and was originally published in February 2022.

In the world of haute horlogerie, hardly anything is as exclusive and alluring as a chiming watch. Often described as the ultimate single complication in watchmaking, only a few manufacturers are at present capable of producing them in-house. Unsurprisingly, it is estimated that only a few hundred minute repeaters are produced in Switzerland each year, and only a handful of them are grande sonneries — chiming watches that automatically strike the full hours and the quarter hours. Last November, in time for Philippe Stern’s 82nd birthday, the independent Genevan manufacture Patek Philippe added a new member to its already impressive collection of repeater watches, the Ref. 6301P Grande Sonnerie. It features three classic gongs and two patents for the striking mechanism and the jumping small seconds at 6 o’clock. It is also the first Patek with a grande sonnerie “in its purest manifestation.”

While the invention of the chiming clock is generally credited to English watchmaker Daniel Quare (1647/49 – 1724), Patek Philippe began producing striking watches right from the start. In September 1839, just four months after it was founded, the manufacture already entered the first timepiece of this kind in its journal, a pocketwatch with a repeater (which was sold for CHF 450). In 1850, entries of pocketwatches with a grande sonnerie appeared in the same journals. The catalog of the 1851 “Great Exhibition” in London (the first world exposition, attracting six million people from May to October) mentions “repeaters” and “watches with automatic strikeworks” as specialties of Patek Philippe. This was followed in 1860 by Patek Philippe’s first pocketwatches with minute repeaters, then in the course of the 19th century, by further timepieces with quarter repeaters, five-minute repeaters and minute repeaters. More precisely, the first wristwatch from Patek Philippe with a five-minute repeater, No. 174603, was a ladies’ model with platinum case in 1916, followed by the brand’s first wristwatch minute repeater sold in 1925 to Ralph Teetor (Aug. 17, 1890 – Feb. 15, 1982), the blind inventor who later developed the automobile cruise control system.

Fast-forward to 1989, the year Patek Philippe celebrated its 150th anniversary: the launch of the Caliber 89 also marked the rebirth of the Patek Philippe’s chiming watch expertise. Featuring 33 complications, “the world’s most complicated portable mechanical timepiece for more than a quarter century” also included the grande/petite sonnerie and minute repeater on four gongs. Shortly thereafter, Patek Philippe resumed regular production of repeaters, and today, every single one is personally checked by Thierry Stern, President and Chief Executive of Patek Philippe, before it leaves the workshops.

A New Movement Derived from the Caliber 300
For the 6301P, Patek Philippe obviously had to develop a new movement. As a starting point, the team chose the Caliber 300 of the Grandmaster Chime (the Ref. 5175, introduced in 2014, is the most complicated wristwatch movement Patek Philippe has produced so far). Consisting of 703 parts (as a comparison, the Grandmaster Chime’s Caliber 300 has 20 complications and 1,366 parts), the new manual-wind Caliber GS 36-750 PS IRM (diameter: 37 mm, height: 7.5 mm) was equipped with two tandem-connected twin mainspring barrels, one for the going train and the other for the chiming mechanism. This setup offers a power reserve of 72 hours for the movement, and of 24 hours for the strikework, which allows the watch to strike the full hours and the quarter hours during an entire day, and — thanks to a uniform torque characteristic — to also offer optimized sound intensity. The two twin mainspring barrels are wound with the crown pushed in and rotated clockwise to wind the going train and counterclockwise to wind the strikework. The four mainsprings feature slip bridles to avoid over-tensioning. Patek has also opted for a silicon hairspring, which shows both the manufacture’s commitment to using the high-tech material, but also highlights the contrast to a watch and movement that are in its essence clearly designed and decorated in a much more traditional style.

When it comes to the strikework, perhaps the world’s first “push notification” ever, Patek Philippe opted for three classic gongs — low, medium, high. This technical option requires more energy than the more common systems with two gongs. It also complicates the watchmaker’s work when tuning each gong until all three create the desired sound. Attached to the movement, the three gongs must not touch one another nor other parts of the case or movement despite the compact space in which they hover. Three hammers of identical size and mass provide a uniform strike for all three pitches. The hours are struck on a low-pitched gong, the quarter hours with a three-strike high-low-medium sequence. The melody for the first quarter hour (15 minutes) sounds once, for the second quarter hour (30 minutes) twice and for the third quarter hour (45 minutes) three times. Each quarter-hour sequence is automatically preceded by the number of elapsed hours, and followed by the number of quarter hours. Thanks to the energy stored in the twin mainspring barrel of the strikework, this adds up to an impressive total of 1,056 strikes in 24 hours. Owners of a 6301P can also select the strikework mode petite sonnerie; it strikes the full hours but omits the repetition of the hours when striking the quarter hours. In the silence mode, the automatic time strike is switched off altogether.

The selection of the strikework mode is performed with a slide switch in the caseband at 6 o’clock. The petite sonnerie mode is on the left adjoining the grande sonnerie mode in the middle and silence on the right. This special feature is the subject of a patent that was already developed for the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime and describes a mechanism that enables the selection and activation of the strike mode with a single slide switch. Previously, two switches were needed to execute these steps. Another patent, also developed for the Grandmaster Chime, allows the complete isolation of the grande sonnerie in the silence mode, eliminating power consumption. On request, the minute repeater can be triggered by pressing the pusher in the crown at 3 o’clock. In response, it strikes the number of hours with low tones, the quarters with three-strike sequences (as in the grande sonnerie mode), and, on the higher-pitched gong, the number of minutes that have elapsed since the last quarter hour. The minute repeater can be triggered at any time, even if the slide is set to the silence mode.

According to Patek, one of the challenges was the integration of a small jumping seconds display at 6 o’clock, something that was never done with a grande sonnerie. Based on the four patents of the 175th-anniversary model, the Ref. 5275 Chiming Jump Hour, the 6301P does not rely on jumper springs as usual but instead comes with wheels and a release lever that instantaneously unblocks the wheel train every second, making energy consumption easier to regulate and control.

When we asked Thierry Stern about the biggest challenge the 6301P posed, he did not have to think long: “Definitely the sound. It is always a huge challenge, especially for this one. With three gongs, it is not easy at all to find the perfect harmony. Each of the gongs alone, it is easy to do, but when you have to mix the three of them, in one case, and they should not touch each other, and they should have the same harmony altogether, especially for the quarter, this is really a challenge. And that’s where I am happy to have, I would say, a lot of experience, thanks really to my dad [Philippe Stern]. Because when I started at Patek, I was 19 years old, the first thing he did, he took me in those validation meetings when he had to listen to the minute repeaters. Since then I’ve been listening to a lot of them, and today I am able to find new ideas, you know. I am not good enough to do it myself, but I am very good at imagining how far we can go and what we should try. And that was a very beautiful challenge to do; with this watch, for example, we found some new diameter and some new ideas as to how to improve the sound, and that is something very important. Because at the end of the day, when you buy a minute repeater, we can all listen to the piece and say ‘it is nice,’ or not; you don’t need to be a professional, you know, writing an article, that’s something not all of us can do. But listening to music and to say ‘it is nice’ or ‘not nice,’ all of us can do it. So it is really a challenge, you know, to find the perfect harmony that will suit the watch, especially on the platinum case. But that was the point for me, that was my target — to say ‘we can do it.’”

The new Ref. 6301P is part of the brand’s regular collection (although its complexity limits production to a few pieces per year), and its price tag is CHF 1,150,000.

SPECS:
Manufacturer: Patek Philippe SA Genève, Chemin du Pont-du-Centenaire 141, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland
Reference number: 6301P
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, grande and petite sonnerie, minute repeater
Movement: Caliber GS 36-750 PS IRM, manually wound mechanical movement; grande and petite sonnerie, minute repeater on 3 gongs; jumping seconds; strikework mode indicator (petite sonnerie, grande sonnerie, silence); power-reserve indicators for movement and strikework
Case: Platinum 950 with a flawless Top Wesselton diamond between the lugs at 12 o’clock; not water-resistant but protected against moisture and dust; sapphire crystal caseback and interchangeable solid platinum caseback
Strap and cla­­sp: Hand-stitched alligator leather with large square scales, platinum folding clasp
Dimensions: Diameter = 44.8 mm, height = 12 mm
Price: CHF 1,150,000